10m sinkhole appears in Dinmore

IPSWICH Councillor Trevor Nardi is anxious about residents’ welfare after a large sinkhole appeared in a Dinmore backyard.

The area is well-known for mine subsidence after large sinkholes forced the State Government to buy people’s homes in 2000.

Cr Nardi said the latest sinkhole appeared after the January floods and by yesterday had grown to 10 metres wide and two metres deep.

“With sinkholes, you could be walking on a crust with a hole 18 to 20 feet (5.5m to 6.1m) underneath and if you went through, it could take a life,” Cr Nardi said.

“It’s a dangerous area to be in. It could happen again and people should not be accessing it.

“The Mines Department should fill in the areas and keep people away. It’s an extremely dangerous area to be in and they should keep people away.”

The sinkhole is behind where John Szollosi and his wife Lynn, who is recovering from a stroke, have lived for about 30 years.

“It was a small hole and it just kept collapsing and getting bigger,” Mr Szollosi said.

“There’s a mine just up the road.

“I’ve seen that many mines around here collapse over the years. When they left them they pulled the pillars out.”

Mr Szollosi fenced off the hole to protect three horses he runs in what was once a half-hectare paddock.

A Mines and Energy spokesman for the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation said mines inspectors from the department determined the subsidence event was “most likely triggered by the heavy rainfall experienced in the area throughout December accessing Westfalen No. 2 Colliery, causing pillar failure”.

“Ongoing monitoring, including a site inspection today has found no other events have occurred in the area,” the spokesman said yesterday.

“A suitable rectification program is currently being developed by the department.